My first glimpse of the moon

Sep 6 I started peeking at Petfinder for a second dog.  Sep 8 I met one,  and the next day brought her home. I didn’t see any others that I wanted to even go meet.  I was like this with my relationships too.  I never liked shopping around much.

She was advertised as a 4 yr old Basenjii/Chihuahua mix.  She is actually 2 (based on her vet puppy visit) and I doubt any Basenjii. Let me preface her story by saying the rescue that I got her from seemed like a shady operation.  For this reason I am not even listing what her name was then, her name is Luna now. Here is what I was told: she was a puppy in a shelter where a woman adopted her. That woman had her apparently the 2 years along with another very small dog and then lost her house 2-3 months ago.  So this rescue  took the dogs through a friend of a friend situation and have had her since.  She is out in a yard with dozens of other dogs during the day and in at night in her own crate. She is housetrained and crate trained already they said. The people who own the rescue also own a force based dog training business and their website proudly displays they follow Cesar Millan’s methods.  They posted a pie graph to illustrate the percentage of exercise, discipline and affection that should be given to the dog, as though it is science.

I first met Luna by myself mid-day on that Wed.  When I drove up there was a woman outside with 2 goats on the side of the road and lawn equipment blowing through the yard.  There was no way to really chat with the woman to find out more info or sit to get to know the dog except on this gravel road along their house.  The man who gave her to me was like a caveman who didn’t say much but instead grunted and sprayed a water bottle towards all the little dogs that were barking at his feet. He handed me  her through the screen door then went back inside.  I take this frightened  little dog in my arms along the edge of the yard trying to avoid the rocks flying from the industrial lawn equipment to find a place to put her down to take a look at her.  I hear the goat woman yell to me over the lawnmower “Why don’t you take her for a walk?”  Ok I yell back.  I look each way on the  pothole ridden dirt road.  The way I came in goes along a trailer park a short ways before reaching the main road with traffic.  The other way leads to a foxtail empty field.  I choose foxtails.

We walk a little, I pet her, I hold her.  It is clear she never was on a walk in this area (maybe ever??) as she looks terrified and I fear she will bolt if I don’t hold on to the shoddy nylon leash well enough. I spent maybe 10 minutes with her.  She was filthy.  She didn’t look dirty but when you pet her you could feel the grime on her body.  She had weird thick grey areas on the tops of her ears that were described as fly bites, and very well might have been, but in a strange place. She has a blue S on her spay line. It wasn’t until I asked about that later when we were told she came from a shelter originally.

So I go back to the goat woman, standing about 10 feet away from her and the two goats and proceed to ask a few questions. Her answers were vague and some a bit shocking.  For example,  when I asked how long she had been here the woman said “Maybe 2 or 3 months?  I don’t remember as we have so many dogs here. We have had about 50 at one time”.  The woman made statements about how I felt which just annoyed me.  She said things like “Oh I can tell you are in love with her”.  My immediate thought was that she didn’t know me, and no I did not feel love. In fact I was trying hard to just  keep the shock off my face most of the time.  I set up a time that evening for Paul and Brodhi to meet there.

I drove away a bit shell shocked and very unsure what to do. I felt an overwhelming urge to just put her in my car and take her away from that situation.  I also had this awareness of not wanting to say yes to a dog just because I wanted to “save her” but that I really wanted her.  I think I did bring her home to “save” her, but within 2 days realized how much I really did want a dog just like her. After Kyra, I have to be careful who I bring into the house.  Paul feels a bit burned from the experience,  and it was too overwhelming for our family to make that work out.  How does one know I find myself asking?  Where does one find the crystal ball or the Magic-8 ball that actually works to predict what life will be like in 3 weeks or 3 months, or 3 years?

John William Waterhouse Art